A good episode is hampered by some easily avoidable mistakes.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Staff Writer
Law and Order: SVU “Hell’s Kitchen”
Season 20, Episode 8
Airdate: 10/25/2018
*Note: There will be no case recap for this episode.
I’m aware that I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but when it comes to SVU, there’s not too much to talk about. “Hell’s Kitchen” was not a bad episode by any means, even if it was rather predictable. It was actually a solid episode, with fantastic acting all around, and great cinematography. Former Chicago Fire actress Monica Raymund did a great job behind the director’s chair for this episode.
There’s only one real problem with SVU right now, and that’s the way that these characters are written. It’s so highly unrealistic and unprofessional.
Any great story is not necessarily perfect, and I know SVU is not necessarily a realistic interpretation of police work by any means. But there a few instances in this episode when I had to do a double take and shake my head at some of these character’s basic failings at doing their job.
For instance, Carisi and Fin fail on multiple occasions to read the suspects their Miranda rights. That’s basic police work that they’re not performing right there, and something that the suspects could have easily taken advantage of had their case made it to trial. At first, I thought it would play into the episode’s plot, but it never did. That lack of attention to detail is inexcusable.
Benson and Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Ben Stone also leak information to the press about the suspects, which is both unprofessional and unethical, and something I expected neither of them to do. I don’t think that’s a good thing. I still remember Benson getting highly upset when she thought Rollins leaked a video from an undercover operation a few seasons ago. The inconsistency in both the characters motivations/morality and the inconsistent representation of police work is becoming more noticeable now than it ever has before.
ADA Stone’s storyline about mourning his sister continues to annoy me, as does his sudden insistence to bring it up while he’s trying to do his job. it’s something that the show needs to stop doing if they want me to accept him on this show going forward. I felt nothing when she died, and I still feel nothing now. That’s kind of harsh, but that’s how I feel. It’s not working and the show needs to drop it.
Another interesting note about ADA Stone: as his colleague ADA Chris Hodges was being taken away at the end of the hour for his part in the crimes, he yells at Stone that they will come for him too, someday.
He’s not wrong about that: it appears that in the next episode, “Mea Culpa,” the person on trial for sexual assault is ADA Stone himself. I’m not necessarily confident in this show’s ability to handle that kind of story right now, but I am very intrigued to see what they do.
JACOB’S FINAL VERDICTS:
– Noah does not like black olives. I don’t like black olives. Why are you making him eat black olives, Benson? That’s actual child abuse.
– Rollins waited tables when she was younger and hit a man who was harassing her in the face with a steak because of course, she did.
– The lighting in the scene where Benson leaked the information to the press looked really cool.
– Spoiler alert: Whatever happens next week with ADA Stone won’t be the end of the road for his character. He’s still listed in the credits for episode 10.
– I feel as if I’m coming off as if I absolutely hated this episode, and I’m not sure that I outright hated it. I just hate some of the choices that they make in terms of how they choose to write these characters, and I think that they’re hurting the show by making some of those bad choices. Except for Tutuola, I can’t really say that I’m too thrilled about how anyone has been written this season, and that’s a bummer.
